Nextspace’s 3D Visual City technology gets angelic investment booster

Kiwi company Nextspace has
been performing some impressive feats with its unique 3D visualisation technology.
So impressive, in fact, it’s secured a healthy dose of investment capital to further
develop and export its interactive Visual City technology to the world.

The Kiwi-developed 3D
visualisation software solution provides applications to engage communities and
stakeholders in meaningful debate around a city’s challenges and opportunities
in areas that include transport, utilities and sustainable urban planning.

The funding has been led by
Ice Angels from business growth centre The Icehouse. Its director of startups,
Ken Erskine, is keeping tight-lipped about the exact amount invested, though he
says its one of the bigger funding rounds made by the group this year.

Erskins said investors have
been attracted by the technology’s export potential, describing it as another
example of “New Zealand stepping
ahead of the pack in the 3D technology industry”.

“We also see the potential
for other businesses to built content-rich applications on top of the Visual
City platform, thereby creating further export and employment opportunities.”

The technology is currently
being used across a wide range of applications. Auckland Council is using the
technology to develop an accurate, 3D city reference model to help communicate
proposals outlined in the Auckland Spatial Plan (its technology was showcased
as part of an Auckland Spatial Plan panel discussion last year). Elsewhere geologists in New Zealand are using the technology to
better understand earthquakes and volcanoes. It’s even been adopted by the
Australians with Melbourne’s South East Water Limited using it to help
Melbourne save money and time when building low-pressure sewer systems.

Nextspace chief executive
Gavin Lennox, who is also a member of the Ice Angels and part of the investment
round personally, said the number of people living in cities is expected to
rise from half of the world’s population to 60 percent by 2030, so the market
is ripe for solutions that help cities interpret and manage this growth.

“When remote sensors, geospatial
information and other raw data sources are used to generate a complex model of
a community, then the best information and ideas can be openly shared and made
available to everyone,” said Lennox. “From all of this, cities and communities
can make better evidence-based decisions.”